Marty Walsh wants 1,000 new mentors for school kids

Mayor Martin J. Walsh put out a call yesterday looking for 1,000 adults — from business executives to scientists to City Hall employees — to step up and volunteer as mentors to help guide Boston school kids.

"There is nothing better than helping somebody shape the future of their life by being a positive role model, a positive influence in their life so they can reach their dreams," Walsh said of his new initiative, the Mayor's Mentoring Movement.

Felix G. Arroyo, Walsh's chief of health and human services, said the administration, "in an attempt to put our money where our mouth is," is looking to recruit 10 percent of the volunteers from the city's own workforce.

"When you ask successful adults, and particularly so for men of color and women, when you ask them did you have a mentor in your life, those who were self defined as successful in their career choice to a T they all say 'Yes,'" Arroyo said.

The city is teaming up with Boston-based Mass Mentoring, a nonprofit that serves as a clearinghouse referring adult volunteers to agencies such as Catholic Charities, Big Brother, Big Sister and Hyde Square Task Force, that then match mentors with kids.

Marty Martinez, head of the organization, said there is a waiting list with as many as 3,000 youths on it looking for mentors.

Bob Gallery, Massachusetts president of Bank of America, whose employees donated 200,000 hours mentoring children last year, said corporations play a critical role in supporting such programs.

"As we all know, there is a strong correlation between what a young person achieves later in life ... and if they had a mentor earlier in their life. It helps ensure their future success," he said, adding that mentors help teach kids both "soft and hard skills."

To learn more about the Mayor's Mentoring Movement, visit: bostonmentors.org.

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Amazon drone arguments don't fly

Tensions between Amazon and the Federal Aviation Administration have been brewing for months, so it should come as no surprise that the agency drafted regulations that shoot down the e-commerce giant's drone delivery ambitions.

Why, after all, would the FAA inflict upon itself the masochism of unmanned aircraft hurtling through the sky with gadgets and groceries? The agency seems to have its hands full with helicopters and planes.

And therein lies the abject failure of Amazon to publicly make the case for its proposed Prime Air delivery service, which aims to get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using small aerial vehicles.

"We believe customers will love it," wrote Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of global public policy, to the FAA in December, without much in the way of hard data to support his sweeping claims.

Random assertions like those seem to be the basis of Amazon's argument, and the FAA just isn't buying it.

"What data or analysis supports Amazon's position that aerial delivery is in the interest of the American public?" asked the FAA in a rather testy letter to Amazon on Oct. 30. "Examples of benefit to the public may include reductions in injuries or fatalities related to current hand delivery practices."

In other words: what's in it for us?

Amazon's failure to provide much of an argument beyond that it really, really wants to have drones is almost certainly to blame for the FAA's stifling proposal that would mandate drones remain within eyesight of the operator at all times and stay only 500 feet above ground level. Both rules pretty much defeat the purpose of Prime Air.

That said, the FAA isn't so obtuse as to scare off what could potentially be a huge innovation industry in the United States. The agency specifically stated that it is open to public comment on the proposed line-of-sight restriction. Once the proposed rules are published online, the public has 60 days to comment.

Misener has rightly argued that it's in the best interests of the nation for Amazon to keep its drone research and development here in the U.S.

But Amazon needs to get a grip: it's not like these drones are going to be defusing bombs or transporting life-saving medicine.

Until that's the case, Amazon is going to have to make a better argument.

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Orphan drugs for rare diseases soar

Treatments for rare diseases — key to the success of several Bay State companies — surged nationally last year, a trend that experts say will likely only continue.

Seventeen of the 41 novel new drugs the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2014 treat rare or "orphan" diseases that affect 200,000 or fewer Americans, offering new hope to patients who previously had few or no drugs available to treat their conditions.

"This really is a time of great interest in orphan drugs," said Mary Dunkle, vice president for educational initiatives at the National Organization for Rare Disorders. "There were a few companies who took a risk early on and made this a successful business model."

An orphan drug designation by the FDA means its developer qualifies for tax benefits and seven years of exclusivity, compared to five years for other drugs.

"Companies are understanding the great value of pushing into new areas where there has not yet been an attempt to develop a drug," said Irving Adler, a spokesman for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a Connecticut-based firm with operations in Cambridge.

Alexion has one approved orphan drug Soliris, which treats two rare, life-threatening diseases.

Other local companies that have developed orphan drugs include Burlington-based Dyax Corp. and Cambridge-based Genzyme.

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Critics glad Partners abandons S. Shore hospital buy

Partners HealthCare System's decision to abandon a controversial plan to acquire South Shore Hospital is a victory for the state's efforts to help rein in rising health care costs, according to critics of the proposed purchase.

"It will help moderate costs, and South Shore (Hospital) is a very good system independent of Partners," said Stuart Altman, chairman of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, established in 2012 under the state's health care cost-containment law. "In the case of Partners, the problem was they were using their higher reimbursement amounts to generate higher costs."

Partners dropped its bid in the wake of a Suffolk Superior Court judge's rejection last month of an antitrust settlement negotiated by former state Attorney General Martha Coakley that would have paved the way for it to acquire South Shore Hospital and Hallmark Health System's Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield hospitals. Attorney General Maura Healey threatened to file an antitrust lawsuit to block any future merger.

"We have listened and heard the public concerns and ... we have decided that the best approach is not to proceed with our plan," outgoing Partners CEO Gary Gottlieb said in a letter to employees yesterday.

That decision is the "right choice for Partners and the commonwealth," Healey said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Gottlieb said Partners and Hallmark agreed "to take a pause as we reflect on next steps."

Healey said in a court filing that she will continue to evaluate that proposal if and when the companies proceed.

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Tow, plow drivers, plumbers prosper

The brutal winter is proving a boon to certain hardy and lucky sectors of the Bay State's snow-plagued economy — from tradesman to plow drivers to hardware stores.

"This is by far our busiest, most lucrative winter — ever," said Beacon Hill's Charles Street Supply owner Jack Gurnon, whose store has been besieged by customers seeking many shovels, ice scrapers, heaters and roof rakes. "It's epic. It's one storm after another after another. I feel badly for the amount of disruption it's caused. But we're making out great."

Plow drivers have literally seen money fall from the sky, with 7-plus feet on the ground already.

Yeh Diab, co-founder of PlowMe.com, said his contractors have done more jobs in the last three weeks than they did all of last winter.

"This is unprecedented," Diab said. "It's really been — no pun intended — an avalanche. Business-wise, it has been a good winter."

Likewise, tow drivers have seen a bumper crop of cars battered by pothole-ridden roads and subzero temperatures.

Craig Quatromini, owner of C.J. Auto and Tow, said the towing end of his business has been so busy that he's actually closed his Waltham auto-repair shop for the last few weeks to keep up.

"We're helping 200 people a day in Newton — almost triple other winters — and installing 10 batteries a day there," Quatromini said.

The winter has taken a steep toll on many small businesses and restaurants that have seen customers dwindle thanks to a broken transit system and snow days that force Bay Staters to hunker down — spurring Gov. Charlie Baker to declare this week Valentine's Week to urge people to patronize shops and eateries. Hourly workers who depend on the T — and the school system for childcare — have had particularly hard hits to their paychecks.

But certain sectors have made out well, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, associate professor of economics and public policy at Northeastern University.

"There are winners and losers," Clayton-Matthews said. "On net, it is a pretty big loss, especially for hourly workers. But it has been a good winter for snowplow drivers and others."

At Ippolito Snow Services, a plow company in the South End, revenues are up 300 percent this winter, owner Frank Ippolito said.

"We're not trying to take on new clients," he said. "We can't even call everyone back to respectfully decline. We've had to just post something on our website."

Snow Angels, a Boston shoveling business, has seen the number of its customers spike in recent weeks, said owner Carolyn Falk.

"We literally have people around the clock, but we prioritize first responders and the elderly and handicapped," Falk said. "I empathize with the businesses that have been hard hit, but winter's been very good for us."

Joe Delicio, general manager for Roto-Rooter Plumbing and Drain Services Co., said year to date, revenues are up about 15 percent over last year, even though its plumbers have had difficulty getting into driveways or finding parking due to the snow.

"The cold helps our business because people's pipes freeze," Delicio said. "And when this stuff starts melting, that will bring a new influx of calls."

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Pharrell Williams has deal for 'Happy' picture book, 3 more

NEW YORK — Pharrell Williams has a "Happy" deal for a series of children's picture books.

The Grammy Award-winning performer has an agreement with Putnam Books for Young Readers for four picture books, starting with one inspired by his hit song.

Putnam announced Tuesday that the book, "Happy," will be published Sept. 22 and will feature photographs of children from around the world "celebrating what it means to be happy." It plans a first printing of 250,000 copies.

Pharrell has won 10 Grammys, including two for "Happy."

"Happy" was featured on the soundtrack of "Despicable Me 2" and was an Oscar nominee last year for best song.

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Top US labor official arrives as West Coast ports back up

LOS ANGELES — The nation's top labor official flew Monday to California in an attempt to resolve a damaging contract dispute between West Coast dockworkers and their employers.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco, where months-long negotiations between the dockworkers union and a maritime association of companies have come to a halt.

So, too, has the movement of billions of dollars of cargo that is supposed to pass through 29 seaports from Southern California to Seattle. The ports are a critical trade link with Asia and the gateway not just for imports such as electronics, household goods and clothing but also U.S. exports including produce and meat.

Starting Saturday, companies locked out workers who would load or unload ships, saying they would not pay weekend or holiday wage premiums to crews they accuse of intentionally slowing work to gain bargaining leverage. As a result, cranes that would otherwise be moving containers onto dockside yards were raised up, stationary and eerily quiet on normally bustling waterfronts.

Dockworkers deny slowing down and say they want to work.

Full port operations are supposed to resume Tuesday, when Perez is scheduled to speak formally with both sides for the first time. He already has been in touch by phone with representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping lines that carry cargo and the terminal operators that handle it once the ships dock.

For now, those massive vessels are forming ever-longer lines outside the ports, laden with imports that are now delayed by weeks. Off the coast of Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, 33 "congestion vessels" were awaiting space at the docks, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California — a new high since this round of disruptions began.

Cargo congestion at the coast's largest ports predated the contract dispute, though the problems were nothing like those now seen. Congestion worsened in the fall, which is when the maritime association says dockworkers began slowing down. The union blames the slow movement of cargo on larger problems with the supply chain, including a shortage of truck beds to carry containers from dockside yards to distribution warehouses.

Contract negotiations began in May. The last contract expired in July. The two sides have reached tentative agreements on many of the key issues, but are stuck on whether to change the process of arbitrating workplace disputes.

Several other issues have been on the table, including pay. The maritime association says average wages exceed $50 an hour; the union says wages are set between $26 to $36 an hour — though many shifts carry a premium over that range.

___

Contact Justin Pritchard at http://twitter.com/lalanewsman

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American lobster: the new Chinese New Year delicacy

PORTLAND, Maine — Now on the menu in Beijing for Chinese New Year: lots and lots of American lobster.

Exports of U.S. lobster to China have rocketed in the past few years, largely to satisfy the appetites of the communist country's growing middle class, to whom a steamed, whole crustacean — flown in live from the United States — is not just a festive delicacy and a good-luck symbol but also a mark of prosperity.

And that's good news for Maine, far and away the nation's No. 1 lobster state, where the boom has put more money in the pockets of lobstermen and kept shippers and processors busy during the usually slack midwinter months.

For Stephanie Nadeau, owner of The Lobster Co., a wholesaler in Arundel, Maine, the demand has meant 14-hour nights spent stuffing wriggling lobsters into crates so they can reach China in time for the Lunar New Year, which falls on Thursday this year. She said she sends 100,000 pounds a week to China this time of year.

"There's lot of orders, lots of demand right now — it is a race to get them there for Chinese New Year," Nadeau said.

On the other side of the world, every morning at 9, the Auspicious Garden restaurant in Beijing receives 800 lobsters that have just crossed the Pacific aboard a cargo plane. In the evening, hundreds of diners fill the two-story restaurant in the gigantic Pangu Seven Stars Hotel for a nearly $80 all-you-can-eat buffet with the New England specialty as the main attraction.

Xu Daqiang, a 35-year-old businessman who was at the restaurant for the first time on a romantic date with his girlfriend, said food-safety concerns in China make him choose expensive high-class restaurants where he can find imported seafood.

Cao Lijun, a 24-year-old Shanghai resident celebrating her friend's birthday in a party of four, alluded to lobster's reputed aphrodisiac properties when she said with a half-laugh: "How to say it? It makes my husband healthier. Really, this is what we say, because it is high in proteins."

Lobsters and other foods seen as luxuries are popular at Lunar New Year and other festive occasions. The bright red of a cooked lobster is considered lucky, as is its resemblance to a dragon.

China also imports lobsters from Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere, but the market for the U.S. variety is exploding, with the demand strong year-round, not just at New Year's.

American exports of live or processed lobster to China climbed from $2.1 million in 2009 to $90.5 million in 2014, federal statistics show. China took about 12 percent of U.S. lobster exports in 2014, up from 0.6 percent in 2009.

American lobsters often appear on menus in China as "Boston lobster" and sell for $50 to $100 each in restaurants — expensive, but more affordable than the Australian rock lobster, which can cost hundreds of dollars and doesn't have the big meaty claws of the American variety.

For the Chinese, the preferred way of enjoying lobster is to cook it in plain water and then dip the pieces in soy sauce and wasabi. Another popular way is to braise it with green bean vermicelli noodles in garlic sauce, said Lv Hui, the cook in charge of the daily buffet at the Auspicious Garden.

Wang Kang, a marketing manager at Zhangzidao Group, a seafood distributor and processor in Shanghai, attributed lobster's popularity in China to rising incomes.

"That naturally means that people are buying more foreign luxury goods," Wang said. "Chinese people are also more concerned with healthy living, as well as foreign goods still being a new thing to them."

New England lobstermen have been recording epic catches in recent years and are grateful for the business from the world's second-largest economy. Maine, which accounts for more 80 percent of all U.S. lobster, hauled in more than 250 million pounds in 2012-13, the highest two-year total in the record books, which go back to the 1800s.

Chinese New Year is on the verge of becoming Maine's second-biggest lobster shipping week of the year, behind Christmas week, according to industry officials. As for the lobstermen, Gerry Cushman of Port Clyde said the year-round demand from China has helped drive prices up, and he is using the extra money to build a new boat.

But so far, Cushman said, the surge has not driven large numbers of Maine fishermen to go out in the middle of winter, a punishingly cold and wet time of year in the Atlantic when lobsters head out into deeper, more dangerous waters and most lobstermen pack it in.

Maine's small corps of winter lobstermen, Cushman said, consists of "stragglers who are stupid like me, or who have kids."

___

Associated Press writers Paul Traynor in Shanghai and Aritz Parra in Beijing contributed to this report.

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SUVs make a powerful comeback

In the rock 'em, sock 'em heyday of the SUV, manufacturers couldn't make enough of them to meet demand.

But the price of a gallon of gasoline went from under a buck to almost $4, and the truck-like comportment of SUVs caught up to them.

Manufacturers have gotten the message, though, and analysts see a fresh wave of SUVs that haven't sacrificed size or power poised for a comeback to match the recovering economy.

Edmunds.com features editor Mike McGrath recommends the following five SUVs for buyers ready to stretch out a bit:

Jeep Grand Cherokee

"Jeep hasn't forgotten its roots and the Grand Cherokee is proof," McGrath said. "The Grand Cherokee is comfortable, sure, but it's also terrifically capable with four-wheel-drive and a host of off-road assisting tech." An additional appeal is a starting MSRP below $30,000, a price tag that gives the Grand Cherokee an advantage. (MSRP: $29,995, MPG: 22/30)

Ford Expedition

"The Expedition isn't all-new like Ford's aluminum-intensive new F-150, but it has been thoroughly refreshed into one of the best offerings in the large SUV class," McGrath said. A twin-turbocharged V6 makes the Expedition "faster than it needs to be," according to McGrath. "If you need a real SUV, take a serious look at this one." (MSRP: $43,845; MPG: 16/22)

Toyota Sequoia

McGrath gave a nod to Toyota's best offering, the Sequoia. "There's still a strong market for real, tough, truck-based SUVs, and the Sequoia is Toyota's entry into this field," he said. Sequoia's big V8 engine cranks out 381 horsepower, giving it stellar towing capacity of 7,400 pounds. (MSRP: $44,395, MPG: 13/17)

Chevy Suburban

The Suburban is the king of large SUVs, and unlike the Expedition, it's all new. "And it shows," McGrath said. "Inside and out, it looks fresh and modern, even if its V8 is outclassed by the Expedition's more powerful V6." (MSRP: $48,250, MPG: 16/23)

BMW X5

The BMW X5 has dynamic styling, luxury to spare, a little more trim profile and a ridiculous array of power options. "It's your luxury pick if you want your SUV with a side of horsepower," said McGrath. The base engine produces 300 horsepower while the xDrive50i makes 445. Not enough? The X5 M makes a staggering 567 horsepower. (MSRP: $53,900, MPG: 24/31)

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Booting Up: Picture app popular in health care field

A new mobile app — like an Instagram for doctors — has taken the medical community by storm.

Figure 1, developed by a Toronto-based startup, is not for those with weak stomachs. But for more than 150,000 doctors, nurses and dentists who have uploaded case photos, and for an estimated 30 percent of medical students nationwide who use it, Figure 1 is a tool that makes digital collaboration simpler and easier than ever.

And for people like you and me, it's a rare, unfiltered window into the medical world. Some of the sights I came upon include: an extremely rare brain melanoma that was just removed, a 25-year-old with a pocket knife embedded in his skull, and an X-ray of a child's stomach after he swallowed a coin. But for every bit of morbid curiosity Figure 1 satisfies, there are many things of poignance and interest.

One user, PunkRockDoc, posted a photo of a brain harvested from a dementia patient. Upon viewing the photo, which showed an atrophied frontal lobe, one registered nurse commented: "My dad is in the last stages of Alzheimers … This is very interesting and very sad to see what my sweet dad's brain looks like."

Some photos elicited spirited debates, while others overwhelmed with sadness. "Please keep us updated," wrote one user to the pediatric orthopedic surgeon who uploaded a photo of a severely deformed infant.

The app has the ground rules of medical privacy one would expect — faces are automatically blurred, users must manually block any identifying marks like tattoos, and the rarest conditions found only in a few patients are not permitted to be featured, for fear of compromising anonymity. Only verified doctors who have provided credentials are allowed to post, according to the app-makers. And the app's founder, Dr. Josh Landy, has vowed to reject sensationalist images that do not have an educational purpose — though I'm not sure how a 25-year-old with a pocket-knife protruding from his skull is educational. Doctors are advised to seek written permission from patents before posting.

What's so striking about this app is that it doesn't try too hard. It's simple. Other medical image-sharing services aren't as simple — they require subscriptions, are highly curated and include the dense articles you'd expect from a medical journal.

This app — just like Instagram — is all images and comments.

"I have learned A LOT from this app," wrote one nursing student. "I am mostly a visual learner and the pictures posted here are awesome."

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